Andrew Edmunds on Lexington Street

[Hallie]

A friend of mine booked this place for her birthday tomorrow. I'd never heard of it (then again, there are many things I've never heard of). Anyone been?

[Jon Tseng]

supposed to be very romantic

J

[Andy Lynes]

Small

[Stigand]

I went there a couple of years ago on a night when no restaurant would be at its best - I can't remember the date but it was one of those days between Xmas and NYE when public holidays and bank holidays must have made it a nightmare to get fresh ingredients, and when I imagine many of the staff would rather have been at home. Despite that, we had a great meal, felt very warmly welcomed and liked the fact the menu majored on sensible food (a lot of hearty dishes, with many relying on storecupboard or preserved stuff that would have survived the Xmas hiatus well, rather than trying to do fresh food with inferior ingredients and failing). Jon is right - it is very romantic, and would probably be a good choice for a birthday too. I haven't been back but only because whenever I've tried to drop by it's been fully booked: deservedly I guess.

[Suzi Edwards]

i'm never sure why people say this place is romantic. I just remember the tables being very close together.

But i agree with Stigand on the food; generally sort of high end gastro pub stuff, good ingrediants, seasonal. It's always on my list for Soho.

[Clerkenwellian]

It's also rather good value, particularly the wine list.

[Scott]

fabulous place, one of my favourites.

upstairs very romantic, downstairs less so.

simple, good value fare with excellent value wine.

a great, great 'easy' option in soho.

[PoppySeedBagel]

From a brief article in Metro today it seems to be in the top 10 for 'favorite restaurants' in London - I can understand this.

[Hallie]

Great news. I'll let you know how my dinner goes tonight.

[lalala]

Its quite cosy. I get my haircut (when in London) on Silver Place, so it's quite convienent.

Food is decent and I believe the basement is airconditioned.

It gets really loud, so I would suggest not going for a romantic meal.

Ditto for cigar smoking, they allow it, so it can get nasty inside.

I noticed that there is another little bistro that opened up across the street a few doors up towards regent street. I'll check it out on my way through on Sept. 12.

lala

[Hallie]

As promised, my experiences at Andrew Edmunds:

In a nutshell: good. Its the type of place that I would categorise as serving reliable, interesting food for a reasonable price. Someone in one of the posts above mentioned that it was essentially gastro-pub grub - a very good description. In terms of food and atmosphere the entire place is like a gastro-pub, just minus the pub.

The atmosphere was quite buzzing and cosy, though I think the intimacy of the place would make it a more suitable venue for a cold winter's evening.

I had carpaccio to start. I must say that perhaps this wasn't the best place to order carpaccio. I've had much better. The beef was a bit too thickly sliced and not hugely flavourful. However, my main course; smoked haddock with a poached egg and hollandaise on wild rice was very nice and very filling. I will be recreating this dish at home.

Others at the table had duck confit and daube of beef. I think most people rated similarly.

I wouldn't go out of my way to rush back but would probably visit again. I'll chalk this one up as a good stand-by.

[rjs1]

I think it a lovely place as long as you're upstairs (downstairs has no atmosphere and they pack you in). Best bet for is a table near the door in the evening. The wines are interesting and can throw up some bargains.